Fashion Police Foiled in Florida

Kudos to Palm Beach County Judge Laura Johnson, who recognized what voters in Riviera Beach did not: fashion statements are in fact statements, messages about who we are, definitions of our personal autonomy. And frankly, notwithstanding the desire of 72 percent of Riviera Beach's voters for fashion conformity, it ain't none of their darn business if (presumably younger) city residents want to wear saggy pants.

The judge overturned Riviera Beach's saggy pants ordinance, which had prohibited anyone from wearing pants below the waist exposing skin or underwear. ... Offenders were cited with a $150 fine for the first offense and $300 for the second offense, considered a misdemeanor.

The ordinance was enforced only about 20 times (including the arrest of Julius Hart, whose public defender challenged the ordinance after his client spent the night in jail), which suggests that the police weren't ticketing plumbers. Do we really want to give the police discretion to decide whose below-the-waist skin is offensive? More to the point, do we really want fashion-sensitive voters deciding how we can or can't dress? How would Riviera Beach residents like it if the government banned those ridiculously huge wrap-around sunglasses that seniors love to wear?

wearing a bad cheap bra under a top that inevitably exposes the bad cheap bra straps, the color "mauve", men's t-shirts worn under white dress shirts, high heels (because I can't wear them anymore and that's just not fair), G. Gordon Liddy, American Idol, that dance program, trailers and trailer parks, stinky cheese that ruins perfectly good meat dishes, people who cut in front of you and then walk slowly AND weave so that you can't pass, and some other things that annoy me that I won't list. But even if I found common cause with a majority of people on any one of these fronts, I wouldn't really want to outlaw any of it. It is a nice dream to think that this world would perfectly reflect my tastes and my vision, but in a way it is not. Although, banning G. Gordon Liddy or the color mauve would be very tempting - I am glad that I don't and should not have the power to do that.

And just to clarify on the trailer parks - as a "good" liberal, I'd like to see the cheapest housing in this rich country be something of better efficiency, quality and strength than those tin cans are.

under a white dress shirt is a serious mistake, unless the dress shirt is made of flimsy, thin material that allows the man's nipples to show through. C'mon guys, spend the money it takes to buy decent fabric. We don't want to see your nipples even if you're sweating.

Here is my attitude: I think people passing a law against people wearing sagging pants is a waste of time. We should be focused on creating jobs, improving our schools, health care, dealing with the war in Iraq, and anybody, any public official, that is worrying about sagging pants probably needs to spend some time focusing on real problems out there. Having said that, brothers should pull up their pants. You are walking by your mother, your grandmother, your underwear is showing. What's wrong with that? Come on. There are some issues that we face, that you don't have to pass a law, but that doesn't mean folks can't have some sense and some respect for other people and, you know, some people might not want to see your underwear -- I'm one of them.

are hung up on body parts and the clothing that covers them -- and I suppose the president is one of those hung up people. What's the difference between underwear and a cotton tee-shirt? Answer: The location where it's worn.

We all need to grow up, and realize that underwear is like a*sholes. Everyone has them. Silly that we have to be hush-hush about it.

I've never understood the fashion mentioned aboe. For me it's mugly. But it's not my call -- nor is it my grandmother's.

It was very fashionable then, late 80's - early 90s. That's when I bought my house. I got some carpeting based on that whole mauve aesthetic for my whole upstairs. I had to go all sensible and high quality and the darn stuff is still in really good shape...